it is pressing right upon us and new year's eve is the right upon us. patti ann: what a happy new year's eve we'll have. any impact on mortgages? >> no. no impact on mortgages that is an opinion. ben bernanke says look, i will spend $45 billion each and every month buying mortgages so that the interest rate on mortgages stays very, very low. that is entirely separate from fiscal cliff, totally separate from the debt ceiling crisis. i don't think, patti anne, you will have any impact on mortgage rates despite the crisis that is upon us. patti ann: that is good news for us. stuart varney, thank you as always. >> thank you. gregg: the debt ceiling first established in 1917. since then the debt limit has been raised 102 times, congress voted to raise the debt limit, 11 times since 2001. right now the national debt is over 16 trillion dollars and counting every second. there it is. patti ann: meanwhile hopes of a budget deal in washington and higher home prices are combining to send the price of oil back up again. heating oil rising four cents to more than $